3 huge 'risk-off' trades are going crazy right now

Major global stock markets were sharply lower on Thursday,
headlined by a plunge in Europe with US futures also deep in the
red.

But under the surface of the headline stock collapses, three big
"risk-off" trades stand out:

The Japanese yen is surging

US Treasurys are rallying

Gold is spiking

The basic outline here is that betting on yen appreciation is
popular during periods of heightened uncertainty.

US Treasurys, considered the safest place investors can park
their money, and gold, which is a traditional "end of the world"
trade, are also often bought up aggressively by investors in
times of stress.

The yen strengthened to 110.99 against the
dollar earlier in the morning before weakening back to about
112.25 around 9:35 a.m ET. However, recent strength has
the yen back at 112.05 at 11:20 a.m. ET. This is the strongest
the Japanese currency has been since October 2014.

Investing.com

US Treasurys are seeing a huge
bid. The benchmark 10-year yield note
is at 1.61% around 9:35 a.m. ET, after a hitting
a low of 1.53% earlier this morning. Now, the yield
has drifted back towards the lows, and currently sits at
1.57%.

The 10-year yield most recently touched this level back in
December 2012. The record low of 1.39%, hit back in July 2012, is
now within sight.

Investing.com

Gold futures are up a whopping $56.00 an ounce,
hitting a high of $1,251.10 at around 11:15 a.m. ET.